Aftermath
by FoldedHands
Summary: With Mitakihara reeling from the destruction caused by Walpurgisnacht, a Magical Girl from Kazamino steps in to lay claim to the city without any obstacles in her way. This stroke of good luck is marred when one of Kyubey's new prospects crops up.
1. Chapter 1

"Goddamn…that was a Walpurgisnacht?" She turned to gaze out southeast, away from the skyline of her city, as if she would be able to see some sign of the Witch's presence from where she was. The chilling malevolence that had washed over her an hour ago was still noticeable. "No wonder I felt it from here."

"But it's dead, huh? What kind of shape is Mitakihara in?"

' _The damage was relatively minor.'_ The white furred creature made a show of cleaning its paws, but she knew that it was far more alert than it appeared. _'The city will fully recover in time. At the moment, Mitakihara faces a more serious problem.'_

The red haired girl standing across from the creature rolled her shoulders, feeling restless. She had an idea of where this was going, but asked anyway. "Yeah? What's that?"

Kyubey raised his head and fixed his inscrutable pink eyes on her. _'Both of the Magical Girls that resided in Mitakihara were killed in the battle. It currently has no defenders.'_

"Both?" Kyoko raised an eyebrow in a genuine indication of surprise. "Only two girls went against that beast and they still managed to kill it?"

' _Yes. Tomoe Mami and a new girl, one you didn't know. She had only made a contract three weeks ago, but she showed great promise. Her early death is unfortunate.'_

Kyoko barely paid attention to what Kyubey said about the new girl. She had already figured as much, but hearing him confirm Mami's death brought a sharp pang of remorse. _Sorry I didn't have your back, Mami._ Then she buried it deep, pushed down with the other regrets that she never allowed herself to acknowledge.

' _The despair of the city's residents in the wake of this destruction will attract Witches, and the city is currently undefended.'_ If he had noticed her distraction, he hadn't let it stop him from continuing on about his reason for being here.

As far as Kyoko was concerned, she barely had to think about it. Kazamino was a decent territory that had served her well, but it was nothing compared to the rich hunting ground of Mitakihara, and, if she were being completely honest with herself, she was glad for an excuse to get away from this place. She had left Mitakihara alone out of respect for her former partner, but now that that partner was dead— _another twinge of guilt, a brief pang in her heart quickly stamped out—_ she had no reason not to claim it.

"Sounds good to me. Gotta say, though, I'm wondering why you're bringing this to me instead of just duping kids in Mitakihara into becoming new Magical Girls. There have to be a lot of girls with wishes now that their homes are wrecked."

Kyubey's tail swished back and forth, but the eerie smile on his face never faltered. _'Even in a city as large as Mitakihara, there are only a handful of useful prospects. I will likely approach them each in due time, but in the immediate future the city would be better served by a veteran than several untried rookies.'_

She fished a box of pocky out of her hoodie and deftly removed a stick with her teeth. "Whatever. Just don't expect me to play nice with the new kids whenever you get around to it." A fierce grin twisted her lips. "Mitakihara is mine now."

* * *

An unnatural silence had fallen on Mitakihara after the storm had passed. Nearly all of the residents had evacuated to the many storm shelters placed throughout the city; in the absence of human life, the only sounds were the howls of wind, quieter now than they had been an hour before, and the occasional clatter of rubble as the unstable wreckage continued to shift.

Within the hour, emergency response teams would begin combing the ruined streets and buildings in the hopes of finding survivors, but the expectation of finding only bodies. They are right, for the most part; of the several hundred citizens that were in the affected areas and did not go to the storm shelters, almost none had survived.

The damage will puzzle experts, as the destruction is inconsistent with the behavior of any type of storm. Even stranger is the way in which the damage caused by the storm suddenly stopped right in the middle of the city, leaving more than half of its projected path unscathed.

And, while not a matter of any significance to those experts, the rescue workers that first reach that last devastated region will find a mystery in the form of the bodies of two school aged girls lying in the midst of the rubble, broken and bloodied, but clearly not killed by any of the collapsing structures around them.

While back at the storm shelter, another girl will continue her frantic attempts to locate her best friend.

It will be several days before she receives the news.

Several months before she learns the truth.

* * *

A/N: Hello! This is an idea that was inspired by the conclusion of the original timeline, the one that ended with Mami's and Madoka's deaths and caused Homura to make her wish. I have made some changes, but that setup, and musings about what would happen in Mitakihara afterwards, were the basis for this story.

This will be a pretty short story, but while I know where I'm going with it, I don't have the whole thing mapped out yet. The next chapter will probably be out soon, but after that, who knows?


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: What a hellish week this has been! Have a chapter.

* * *

The sounds of construction had faded with the sunlight. In the weeks following the attack, heavy machinery could be heard in the ruined districts round the clock, but after three months the feverish work had slowed. It would be years before the buildings would be replaced and the streets and sidewalks repaired, but the debris had been cleared, the dangerous ruins demolished, and the rest cordoned off.

The gloomy, abandoned husks of the once beautiful districts were the perfect breeding grounds for Witches and their familiars. The anguish that they still caused in the citizens attracted them, and the homeless people and gang members that inhabited the area provided sustenance.

Unless she was very much mistaken, such a feeding was about to happen right in front of her.

The silence was broken by a crisp crunch as she bit into an apple. Kyoko chewed absentmindedly as her eyes tracked the girl from her vantage point on the fire escape. Looked like this one was gonna be worthwhile. She was headed right for a grim death…it only remained to be seen whether it was a familiar or a Witch.

There was a _**tug**_ in her Soul Gem and the world warped around the hapless victim. Within seconds she was gone and a dark gateway remained upright in the middle of the sidewalk where she had been walking. A grim smirk played across her sharp features.

 _Your lucky day, kid. You might actually get out of this alive._

Kyoko hopped off of the fire escape and walked casually through the portal, her body buzzing with adrenaline in preparation for the hunt.

It was a Witch.

* * *

It took several minutes of running up staircases and cutting through prancing familiars before she saw a trace of the girl. Kyoko had figured she was dead by now…not that she had been bothering to look for her.

As she reached the top of a towering set of stairs she heard a scream off to her left, in the darkened corners of the realm. Kyoko spared a quick glance in that direction and saw the girl that she had followed in here being backed into a corner by familiars. That she was still alive was a little impressive, but she wouldn't be for much longer. She was a little too far away to reach in time…

In seconds, Kyoko compared the cost to the benefit of using magic to save the kid's life. There was no direct gain to be had in saving her, but any death in this realm would only strengthen the Witch. A small, definite expenditure, or the risk of a much larger expenditure to take down the boss…

Decision made, she sprinted towards the huddled figures. A wall of red diamond-patterned symbols appeared in front of the girl, blocking her against the terrain of the maze and keeping her out of reach of the familiars. Kyoko didn't bother to cut them down; her barrier would hold well enough against those scrappy puffballs and their scissors.

Anything that ambled into her path died. The little mustached balls of fluff and butterfly wings posed no threat to her; this Witch and her minions were weak. Kyoko briefly considered dispelling her barrier and letting the Witch feed on the girl, but dismissed the thought. Even she wasn't cold enough to throw someone to the wolves after reaching out a helping hand.

She wound her way through the stark staircases and dead trees until a pretty red door behind a gauzy pink veil came into view. She snorted. Witches didn't seem to have any appreciation for subtlety when it came to the heart of their mazes.

The door splintered inward and was left dangling on broken hinges.

She didn't have much use for subtlety, either.

The chamber beyond the door was like a grim parody of a serene garden setting: most of the plant life was all blackened and thorny, the high walls were composed of bands of mismatched materials that were constantly rotating like a gyroscope, and the artwork spread out among the plants was discordant and ugly. The only things in the room that were pleasing to the eye were the healthy looking roses scattered throughout the garden and forming a thick, red ceiling above. Kyoko dropped a dozen meters to the grassy field below and examined the Witch with a contemptuous eye. Moss-like hair hanging down over its face, bloated, twisted body with a pair of butterfly wings on its back. Not the ugliest Witch she had ever seen, but its obsession with a beautiful garden apparently didn't extend to its own appearance. Thorny vines crept toward her from its base and she sneered as she swatted them away with the flat of her spear.

"Let's make this quick. I'm starving."

The Witch swung its head around to face her but, rather than attack, it sprang upwards, its gross body suspended high above her by the butterfly wings. The vines moved again, this time lashing at her with dozens of sharp thorns, but she dodged them easily as she considered the situation.

Her target may have been out of reach, but she was a pro at inspiring blind rage in someone.

"Nice garden." Her spear flashed through the air, and seven roses fell apart in a rain of scarlet petals. "You gonna do something before I wreck the whole thing?" Another handful of roses were split down the middle. The Witch shrieked and dropped like a meteor to land heavily among the ruined flowers, head turning this way and that as it tried in vain to restore the roses. Kyoko snorted. Idiot thing.

Her spear whistled through the air again and the mossy head fell to the ground.

The twisted world faded around her until she found herself back in the boring, predictable and safe real world. She stooped and swept the Grief Seed up then prepared to head out to find something to eat when a noise caught her attention. She turned to find the kid that had gotten caught in the Witch's maze sprawled on the ground a few yards away, breathing hard and staring wide eyed at her.

"Good job on surviving. You don't often see a human walk back out of a maze." Kyoko turned again to leave when the girl spoke up.

"Wait! What…what was all of that? What happened to me? Who…who are you?" Her voice rose in volume (and pitch, Kyoko noted with a wince) until the last question, when it dropped to almost a whisper.

Kyoko bared her teeth and started walking without looking back, her magical attire vanishing to be replaced by her street clothes. "Not my problem to explain any of it to you. Maybe Kyubey will try to recruit you; you can bug him with your questions."

"Wait!" she cried again. "Please…don't just leave me." She sounded like she was close to tears.

Irritation flared up in Kyoko and she rounded on the girl to snap at her, but a better idea popped into her head as her stomach growled. "Buy me lunch."

The other girl blinked several times in confusion. "What?"

"It's easy. You buy me lunch. I don't ditch you, and maybe I even answer some of your questions." _Until you start to annoy me, anyway._

The girl looked confused and a little affronted, but she nodded hesitatingly and pushed herself onto shaky legs. It was the first time Kyoko had really bothered to get a good look at her, though there wasn't much to look at. She was a scrawny thing, looking all the more pitiful because of her beige sweater and plaid skirt. The wide, innocent eyes and red ribbons completed the image of some helpless schoolgirl in the wrong part of the city.

"What's your name?" the girl asked.

"Kyoko. Yours?" she asked without really caring about the answer.

The girl took a deep breath and bowed her head a little. "My name is Madoka."

* * *

A/N: Surprise! (?)

I'm not all that pleased with how this chapter came out, but there wasn't much I could do with Gertrud's maze; we've all seen it and writing out long descriptions of its environments and familiars would have been redundant and boring. But I suck at making up my own Witches and it makes a nice parallel to how Madoka met Mami in the anime.

Now I can get into the meat of the story. Which I will do...eventually.


	3. Interlude

A/N: And an expositional one, at that.

* * *

For some Magical Girls, the path leading to their decision to trade their innocence and freedom for a wish is a long and winding one, a spider web of factors that all contributed to their choice. A father struggling with his faith and dwindling congregation, nightly hunger pangs, a little sister that needs to be taken care of—all of these interconnected problems can push a child into making a decision that they aren't mentally and emotionally capable of comprehending.

For others, it's a single, life changing moment that flipped the world upside down and left the girl with no alternative but to accept the offered wish. A fatal car crash, for instance.

For Sayaka, it was a mixture of both. And it started with poor management at a music store.

The CD that Sayaka had ordered as a gift for Kyousuke was misplaced in the music store's stock room, so she and Madoka ended up having to wait while the staff sorted through what must have been a decade's worth of albums to find something that should have been clearly set aside for her. As a result, the two girls didn't leave the music store until much later than they expected. Sayaka didn't need to be home at any particular time, but Madoka, apologizing profusely, had had to set off. It didn't bother Sayaka; Madoka and Kyousuke barely knew each other, so Madoka usually ended up waiting outside for her anyway.

In an effort to save time, and owing in part to the fact that her nervous friend wasn't with her anymore, Sayaka chose to cut through a slightly seedier part of the downtown area. She was walking across a bridge when it started. As her thoughts strayed ahead to her destination in anticipation of seeing Kyousuke, a sense of despair slowly crept over her. She remembered the last time she visited him, when she saw silent tears running down his cheeks and could only watch helplessly. She thought about how Kyousuke would probably never play again, how much it tormented him, and how her feeble gestures of friendship did nothing to take away his pain.

A little voice in the back of her mind whispered to her; it sympathized with her suffering, and it was kind enough to offer a suggestion of how she could handle all of these problems at once. The voice was persuasive, and Sayaka quickly found herself agreeing with what it said. Before she knew it, she had stepped over the railing and jumped off the bridge as casually as she would hop over a puddle.

And fell straight into a web of golden ribbons.

She struggled briefly against the golden strands, which only wound themselves tightly—but gently—around her in response. The ribbons and threads exuded such a sense of calm and compassion that within seconds Sayaka had stopped thrashing and was beginning to question what she was doing here in the first place.

Then she saw an angel.

A beautiful girl with golden hair, elegant and stylish clothes and a jaunty cap perched on her head was looking down at her with an expression of such concern and kindness that she was all Sayaka could focus on, and the rest of the haze that was clouding her mind faded away. By the time she had been pulled up and was back on her feet, she was fully in control of her mind again and saw that the girl was no angel, but an upperclassman that she had seen around school occasionally.

A single incident, bizarre in how insignificant it was, changed the course of Miki Sayaka's life by having her cross paths with a girl that she would immediately develop a reverential awe bordering on hero worship for. But it was a combination of factors that caused her to make her wish and become a Magical Girl.

She didn't regret any of it by the time Walpurgisnacht reached the city. Even though nothing could have prepared her for such a battle, and she was woefully underequipped to deal with such a foe, she held fast to her belief that she was saving the city and its people, even if it cost her life. When a piece of debris flung by the gales that the Witch had kicked up shattered Mami's skull and sent her tumbling lifelessly to the ground, Sayaka only resolved to fight harder.

And against all odds, she won. The two of them had managed to kill the most powerful Witch the world had seen in centuries; all it cost them was both of their lives. As she lay broken and dying amidst the rubble downtown Mitakihara, Sayaka's last thoughts were of Kyousuke, Madoka and Hitomi, and how she had saved them.

There was no way she could know that her actions would alter Madoka's life until she, too, found herself on a path that landed her in the middle of the world of Magical Girls and Witches.

* * *

A/N: Hey, look! Sayaka's in this st-oh.

My apologies for this rambling, not quite necessary chapter. It doesn't have much bearing on the rest of the story, but I felt like I needed to make some mention of the differing circumstances that had Sayaka become a Magical Girl instead of Madoka. As this doesn't advance the plot of the main story in any way, it isn't really a chapter of that story and so I call it an interlude. Good news, though: chapter 3 will be out tomorrow (probably).


	4. Chapter 3

Ever since her best friend's death, Madoka had been given to bouts of melancholy. She was plagued by questions for which answers didn't seem to exist. When she fell into this melancholy, she would start walking aimlessly, anything to get her away from what was familiar, and the questions would play through her mind over and over. She had long since given up understanding where the devastating storm had come from, for instance, or why it had stopped so suddenly. She determined that she would never know why Sayaka's behavior in the last few weeks of her life had become so peculiar that Madoka and Hitomi felt they barely knew her anymore. And she was certain that she would never know what had caused Sayaka and that second year girl, Tomoe Mami, to be out in the streets directly in the path of the storm when the evacuation had been sounded hours earlier.

Madoka didn't think about these questions anymore, but that didn't mean they left her alone. As much as she tried to move on, these mysteries clung to her. So it was that, as she walked, she often found herself at the barrier to the devastated parts of the city. She would stand by it, sometimes for minutes but once for a whole hour.

Which was how she found herself there on that fateful evening. And the torment she felt had become so strong that it motivated her to do something foolish. She knew that nothing around the area would provide the answers to her questions, but the compulsion to go to the place where Sayaka had died and try to make sense of it all had become unbearable.

She knew it wasn't a good idea, but thought there would be no harm in it.

That decision would prove to be both a blessing and a curse; her questions were finally answered, more fully than she could have thought possible, but her trip into the ruins would prove to be the biggest mistake of her short life, and, if not for the intervention of a red headed stranger, it would have been her last.

* * *

What Kyoko considered "lunch," Madoka would have called dinner for a family of three. On a normal day she would have been wincing at the cost.

Today, she was a little more preoccupied with thoughts of the impossible world full of jagged lines and moving pictures that she had stumbled into, how she was attacked by creatures that should not have existed, nearly killed by something she didn't even have words for, and saved by a rude girl with magical powers. Madoka felt oddly detached from it all, not nearly as scared as she thought she should have been. She didn't yet realize that the fear and nightmares would come later.

"What was all of that?" she asked in a near-whisper when she could stand it no longer.

The redhead's attention snapped from the tray of food to Madoka in an instant and the meek girl felt like a helpless animal staring into the jaws of a predator.

"Witch," she said abruptly and returned to her food.

"…What?"

Kyoko sighed in exasperation and begrudgingly focused on Madoka again. "It was a Witch. Some kind of magical monster that preys on humans. Good enough?"

Madoka crossed her arms and scowled—though on her soft features and with her meek demeanor it came across more as a pout. Kyoko didn't bother to hide her snort of amusement.

"No, it's not good enough! You said you would answer my questions if I bought you lunch. So, answer them! …Please."

Kyoko stared at her, eyes wide and mouth slightly open, before she suddenly burst into laughter, and only laughed harder at the sulky expression on the kid's face. She had to admit, something about this girl struck a chord with her. "All right, all right," she chortled as her laughter died down. "I'll tell you what you want to know. Just please, spare me your wrathful gaze before I faint from fear."

By this point, Madoka's face was almost as red as Kyoko's hair and was fixed permanently in a scowl/pout, but directed at the table instead of Kyoko. The redhead grinned widely and went back to her food, pausing between mouthfuls to tell Madoka what she knew.

"Forget what everyone's told you. Magic's real, and so are monsters. Near as I can tell, Witches just exist to spread misery and make people kill themselves and each other. They can't be seen by normal people and they hide themselves in little pocket dimensions. That's what you blundered into. Hang on…" Kyoko fixed Madoka with an appraising stare that made her fidget. "Just what were you doing wandering around abandoned neighborhoods at sundown? That's gotta be the fastest way for a helpless little girl to get herself killed, by some punk if not a Witch."

"I'm not a little girl!" Madoka shot back indignantly, but quailed under the flat stare she received. "I…I'd rather not talk about it," she muttered.

Kyoko studied her for a few more moments before shrugging. "Suit yourself. Anyway, more than a year ago this little white cat thing that calls itself Kyubey comes up to me and tells me I can have anything I wish for, and in return I get magic powers and have to spend my life fighting Witches." She slipped the grief seed out of her pocket and held it up for Madoka to see. "A Witch drops these. Magical girls use them to recharge their powers. Familiars, those little things that attacked you, don't have grief seeds so they aren't worth bothering with." She shoved the spiky black orb back into her pocket and returned to her food. "There. _Now_ are you happy?"

Madoka stared at her, wide eyed and a little paler than she had been. Kyoko only rolled her eyes and went back to eating.

"Look, Pinky, I'll give you some advice: forget about all of this. There's nothing you can do about any of it, so there's no reason to behave differently tomorrow than you did yesterday." Having finally finished her meal and feeling increasingly uncomfortable about the lost expression on the girl's face, Kyoko stood to leave. "I'd say 'see ya around,' but it would be safer for you to not be anywhere near me. Good luck out there."

She walked away without another word or a single backwards glance. Madoka didn't watch her go; all she could think was that the questions that tormented her had only multiplied.

* * *

' _I was wondering how you would treat her.'_

Kyoko idly kicked an empty plastic bottle down the alley, her mood ever so slightly soured by the intrusion. "What do you want?"

Kyubey came padding into view and fell into step beside her. _'To observe the girl you rescued. She has the potential to become a Magical Girl.'_

She rolled her eyes at that. "No shit."

The mysterious creature didn't react to her rudeness. _'Were she to make a contract, what would you do?'_

"Her?" Kyoko gave a sharp bark of laughter that was devoid of mirth. "What would I do? Nothing. That poor kid wouldn't survive a week."

She had shown the same callousness for the deaths of several other Magical Girls to date, but this time, her indifference was just a little feigned.

* * *

A/N: As promised, here's a real chapter. A short one. They will probably all be pretty short.

If you haven't guessed, part of what this story is about is exploring the idea of Madoka's first introduction to the world of Magical Girls and Witches coming from someone who is bitter and cynical, the polar opposite of Mami's attitude when she painted the lofty image of being a Magical Girl for Sayaka and Madoka. We will see how that affects Madoka and how this all turns out (probably not well; this story _is_ marked as Tragedy).

Please review!


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: I suppose it's time that I continue this story. Short update, though. Although, I suppose my updates are always short.

* * *

The clatter of loose concrete drew her attention from the blank ceiling that she had been staring at to the apartment's window. She was about to dismiss it as another vagrant or vandal wandering through when she heard the front door open and footsteps begin up the stairs. Kyoko sighed and heaved herself off of the dirty mattress, taking a moment to stretch her arms above her head before ambling over to the door, where she waited on the side that it opened toward. There was no one in the ruined apartment building but her—she had made sure of that. Whoever was on the stairs might just be looking for something to steal or a place to sleep tonight, or it might be another thug that had seen her come in here and followed her. It wouldn't be the first time that some punk had seen a helpless girl when he looked at her and tried to take advantage of that.

She hadn't killed any of them, but she did leave them in increasingly severe states of injury, and if this kept up she might start doing something drastic to get the message out. The footsteps paused outside her door and she tensed.

A moment later, a soft knock sounded from the door.

Kyoko blinked.

"Hello?" came a timid voice from the hallway. Timid and familiar.

Eyes narrowing more with every passing second, Kyoko wrenched the door open and stood face to face with Kaname Madoka. The pipsqueak jumped backwards in shock, hands flapping out uselessly in front of her as if that would protect her from an attack.

"What are you doing here?" she asked bluntly, but with less vitriol than she had expected. "And how did you find me?"

"K-Kyubey! He showed me where you live!" she responded hurriedly, as if worried that Kyoko was about to become violent. "I told him I wanted to talk to you and he led me here."

Kyoko's scowl deepened. _Is that so?_ Knowing that he must still be in the area, she called, _'And why did you do that, rat?'_

' _She is still a potential candidate for a contract,'_ came the smooth, skin-crawling reply, _'but she is indecisive. If speaking to you would help her come to a decision, then I see no reason not to grant her request.'_

Madoka was still standing hesitantly outside of her door and Kyoko had the acute impression of a puppy silently begging to be let in out of the rain. With a noncommittal shrug she turned and walked back into her apartment. _'Stay the fuck out of my business, Kyubey.'_ To Madoka, she said, "Come in if you want. Just don't expect much in the way of hospitality."

The meek girl hurried to follow her and closed the door behind them. She stood awkwardly in the middle of the room, not sure where to stand or even look. Kyoko rolled her eyes; if her guest wasn't going to get the ball rolling, then she would.

"Since you obviously didn't learn anything from last time, what was so important that it brought you out into this neighborhood again?"

Madoka paled a little at the mention of her last ill conceived venture in the disaster zone, but pressed on. "I wanted to know…what it's like. What it's like to be a Magical Girl."

Several thoughts and feelings all flashed through Kyoko at once. Irritation towards Madoka, because she was being asked to play teacher for this girl she didn't know and didn't care about. Anger for Kyubey for dumping this on her when he could have answered her questions himself. An unexpected measure of pity for the girl that now seemed to be set on a course to self destruction. And, in spite of all of the other feelings, a small amount of curiosity for the reason that Madoka was pursuing this instead of just staying away from it all and living a relatively safe life.

Ultimately her annoyance won out, but it was tempered a little by the rest. "Look, kid, I already told you everything last week. I'm not your tour guide on standby to answer your questions whenever you feel like." Madoka deflated before her eyes, the already hesitant demeanor giving way to defeat. Kyoko didn't stop. "I'll tell you one thing about all of this: it ain't for you. You try to step into this world and you'll get swallowed whole. So quit wasting my time with this, and get back to your life."

The pinkette stood there, still and silent, for a long moment, her head down so that Kyoko couldn't see her face. But she didn't move, and as Kyoko watched her she saw the girl's shoulders square and her stance become firm. She still wasn't looking at Kyoko, but she clearly wasn't about to leave, either. For the second time since she had met her, Kyoko felt an inexplicable connection to the girl. That pushed the curiosity she was feeling to the front of her mind, and she leaned back against a wall while observing the younger girl.

"Why do you want to talk to me about this, anyway? You know the gist of this, and if you have a wish that you're thinking of then you've got motivation. Just do what you want."

Some of the tension left Madoka's shoulders and she peeked up at Kyoko. At that moment she looked so helpless, yet so sweet and innocent that Kyoko felt a sudden, sharp, and completely unexpected pang in her heart. Grief welled up inside of her, stinging her eyes with the threat of tears and making her throat tighten.

For the briefest moment, she was back in her father's church, smiling down at a tiny, red haired girl that looked up at her with adoration.

In one shining moment of clarity, she understood what she saw in Madoka.

 _She's just like her…_

Desperate to keep the surge of emotion from showing, Kyoko stamped on that thought and the unwanted feelings that were threatening to overwhelm her, pushing them down deep inside of herself, and so the realization that shook her to her core lasted only a few seconds. Even so, she almost missed what Madoka said.

"You're the only one I _can_ talk to about this. Kyubey did say that I can wish for almost anything, but I'm…" The pink haired girl shifted from foot to foot and bit her lip. "I don't know if it's something I can do… The other day, what happened…I've been having nightmares."

 _There it is_ , Kyoko thought. The reason Madoka couldn't heed her advice and just walk away from all of this. The newly awakened sisterly feelings that she was trying to suppress made her want to wrap the smaller girl in a hug and tell her it would be all right because there wasn't really anything to be afraid of.

But it wasn't true, and it wouldn't help anything. Madoka was too old to be coddled.

Kyoko moved over to the bed and sat at the foot of it, leaning her back against the mattress, and gestured at the space next to her. Madoka hesitantly sat next to her and waited for her to speak.

"If you're hoping I'll tell you that there's nothing to worry about and you'll be strong enough to defend yourself from anything if you turn into one of us, then I have bad news for you. Sorry, kid, but that's just not how it goes. That Witch I killed last week? That was a weak one. Every time I go into a barrier, I'm gambling with my life that what's waiting in there won't be too strong for me. And I have to keep doing it, because if I run out of magic then I'm totally helpless."

Madoka stared silently at the floor for a minute, turning over what Kyoko had said, and the redhead found that she didn't really mind the girl's company. It's not like she had anything better to do with her time. Finally, the pinkette said, "But if we were both Magical Girls…we could watch out for each other. We could be strong enough to survive together."

Kyoko shook her head, determined to stop _that_ idea before it took root. "Sorry, kid, but I don't do partnerships. Maybe you hadn't noticed, but I don't exactly get along well with others." She smirked as a memory surfaced. "Mami used to say that it was less hassle to take a Witch down by herself than to try to make me—" Kyoko stopped as she noticed the look on the other girl's face. "What?"

"You said…Mami…. What was…what was her full name?"

Kyoko raised an eyebrow but supposed it wasn't that strange. Mami was a pretty uncommon name, and she had gone to school here. It wasn't that unlikely that Madoka had known her. "Tomoe Mami."

Her guest gave a little gasp and clapped her hands to her mouth, eyes the size of saucers. "She was…Mami was like you?"

Kyoko almost snorted at that, as she could think of another way in which Mami was "like her," but Madoka didn't really need to know about that. "Yeah, she was a Magical Girl too. I met her just after I had made my contract; we fought together for a couple of months before we went our separate ways. How well did you know her?"

Madoka shook her head, pigtails flopping from side to side. "Not well. She went to the same school as me, but I never got to know her…she was a second year, after all. I barely spoke to her; the only reason I knew her at all was because…Sayaka…"

She trailed off, looking forlorn, and Kyoko was curious in spite of herself. "Yeah? Who's Sayaka?"

"She was my best friend," Madoka said quietly. "I never knew Mami very well, but Sayaka had started spending more time around her. They must have been very good friends. And they…they…" The pinkette sniffled and wiped her eyes. "They found them together after the storm hit the city."

Kyoko's eyes had steadily narrowed as Madoka spoke; at Madoka's last statement, her suspicions were confirmed and she felt her lip curl. _'I know you're still here, rat. Get in here.'_

The latch on the window across the room flicked open and Kyubey slid silently into view to perch on the window sill. Kyoko ignored Madoka's little gasp at his sudden appearance, directing all of her attention to the creature staring back at her.

' _You didn't tell her that her best friend was a Magical Girl and got killed fighting a Witch?'_

Kyubey's tail flicked once. _'No. Would such knowledge have changed anything up to this point?'_

' _Up to now? Probably not, but it might make her think twice about joining this world. Which makes me think that that's why you didn't tell her. Besides that, she has a right to know.'_

' _If you believe it to be important, then I leave it to your discretion.'_

Her jaw clenched at Kyubey's casual dismissal. She was going to stomp on him the next time she was alone with him. Kyoko stood up and turned to face Madoka, who looked thoroughly confused and was turning her to head back and forth between Kyoko and Kyubey.

"What's wrong, Kyoko?"

* * *

A/N: That's a good place to stop, right? Right.

Please review!


	6. Chapter 5

When she was little, Madoka had been a fragile girl. Easily frightened, easily overwhelmed by situations that seemed to dwarf her, unable to function when under too much pressure. Her mother had taken Madoka aside one day and explained, rather bluntly, that she couldn't get through life like that. She had told her that she needed a way to cope with situations that felt like they would crush her.

At her age, Madoka couldn't have been expected to figure it out herself, but her mother didn't abandon her to her own devices. Kaname Junko had taught her daughter to step back from the situation, sum up everything she knew about it, then separate that knowledge into individual issues and address them one at a time. It still took a while for her to get the hang of it, but whenever she felt overwhelmed, Madoka would take a deep breath and begin breaking down the problems into manageable pieces.

It was a skill that had helped her through a lot.

So why wasn't it working now?

 _Sayaka was a Magical Girl. Sayaka had made a deal with Kyubey. Sayaka kept it a secret from me. Kyubey kept it a secret from me. The storm was really a powerful Witch. Sayaka's death…Sayaka's death wasn't…wasn't…_

All of the doubt and confusion that had been plaguing her for months crashed down on her at once. The questions that had tormented her, that she thought she would never have answers for, were suddenly made crystal clear, and she wished she could turn back time to two weeks ago and be blissfully ignorant of all of this.

Madoka felt betrayed. By Sayaka, for keeping a secret of such magnitude from her, even when she was heading to a battle that she knew might end in her death. By Kyubey, for talking to her for days yet never mentioning that he had made a deal with her best friend months prior.

By the world and life itself for being so damned confusing and unfair.

Her head tipped up enough to bring Kyoko into view. As rude and unfriendly as she was, she was the only one that had always been straight with her. The redhead was watching her with an inscrutable expression; Madoka didn't know what was going on behind those maroon eyes, but at the moment all she felt towards the older girl was gratitude.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked in a low voice. She was still looking at Kyoko, but they both knew who she was talking to.

' _It was not relevant to our conversations.'_ The white creature padded into view and sat on his haunches between Madoka and Kyoko, his pink eyes fixed on the former. _'Knowing that your friend had made a contract several months ago would not undo the circumstances surrounding her death, nor would it change the choice that you have before you now.'_ His tail flicked back and forth as he watched her. _'The wish that you had inquired about earlier is just as viable now as it was before you knew that Miki Sayaka had been a Puella Magi.'_

Her hands clenched around the fabric of her skirt, balling it up in her fists as an uncharacteristic surge of anger shot through her. _He's a liar_ , she told herself. _He lied and he kept secrets from me. I can't trust him._ She blinked, and her eyes refocused on Kyoko, who was still watching her with a veiled gaze.

"Is he telling the truth? I can wish for anything I want and it will actually happen?"

The redhead tipped her head once in a brief nod. "I don't know about 'anything'; I'm sure there are limits to what you can do. But yeah, even some pretty outrageous stuff can come true through this. What'd Kyubey say your friend did? Heal some kid that was going to be crippled for life?" She shrugged and looked off to the side. "You're right to be suspicious of the little shit, but the wish part, at least, is on the up and up."

Madoka closed her eyes and nodded. That settled it, then. Her head was still spinning from the things she had just learned, she still felt hurt by the deception all around her, but, in spite of it all, her responsibilities were clear. Perhaps even clearer, now. Sayaka had given up everything to save the person she cared about. Now it was Madoka's turn.

"If I do…" she asked slowly, finally turning to look at Kyubey, "…will she come back as a Magical Girl or a normal person?"

' _That depends on how you phrase your wish. But reviving her as an ordinary human is certainly a possibility. I must point out that, if you choose that course of action, Sayaka will remain human for the rest of her life. As her cosmic potential has already been used when she made a contract with me, she will not be able to make a second wish and become a Magical Girl again.'_

That was all right, Madoka thought. All the better; she wouldn't have to worry about losing her friend again.

She took another moment to compose herself and to think of the exact words she wanted to use—she no longer trusted Kyubey to grant the spirit of her wish rather than the letter of it—then turned to look directly at him and took a deep breath.

* * *

She was going to do it. Kyoko could see that in the set of her shoulders and the deep breaths she was taking to work up the nerve.

 _Just let her do it._ Before tonight, she would have rejected the idea of letting another Magical Girl set up shop in her territory, but it was painfully clear that Madoka was not and could never be a threat to her. The girl was too kind hearted for her own good.

This was not her problem, she knew that. It was just another example of a naïve kid making a wish without really thinking through the consequences and coming to regret it. Just like her. Madoka was a nice enough kid, but so what? Kyoko had also been a nice kid, and no one had explained everything to her and talked her out of her foolish wish. Madoka, on the other hand, had the benefit of Kyoko's experience, and Kyoko had told her several times that she wasn't cut out for this; if the girl wanted to go through with it anyway, that was her business.

Just as Madoka opened her mouth to say the words, Kyoko cleared her throat. Madoka jumped a little and turned her perplexed gaze to Kyoko, who was almost as surprised as the pinkette at the sudden interruption.

 _Looks like I'm doing this, then._

"What is it, Kyoko?"

She had to fight down a grimace as the pinkette stared at her. Kyoko could see the hope in Madoka's eyes, obscured by a haze of distress and confusion, but still there.

She did not relish being the one to stamp it out.

"I take it you're planning on wishing your friend back to life, right?" At Madoka's nod, she continued, "Look, you can wish for whatever you want; it ain't my place to tell you what to do with your life. But you did come to me for advice, and I think there are a couple of things you need to think about first."

A fearful look crossed Madoka's face as the first real hope she'd had in months fell under threat. Kyoko half expected her to cut her off and say that she'd already made up her mind, but Madoka merely clasped her hands together nervously and waited. Like ripping off a bandage, Kyoko got to the point quickly and directly.

"Right, well, I wouldn't be so quick to take that deal. Yeah, you could get your friend back, but then what? Everyone she knows would still think she's dead; do you have a way to convince people that the kid they buried was actually alive the whole time and just now climbed out of her grave?" Every word she said made Madoka's face fall a little more; Kyoko plunged on without mercy. "You'd bring her back, and then she'd be alone and cut off from everyone she cared about other than you. You think she'd be happy? I think she'd be miserable. I think she might start to resent you for not just letting her be."

By the time she had finished, the hope in Madoka's face had broken completely and her eyes had a thin line of tears gathering in them. Kyoko flinched and looked away, knowing she'd done the right thing but unable to meet her eyes. She felt like she had called a puppy over to her just so she could kick it in the ribs.

"K…Kyubey…would I be able to bring Sayaka back and make everyone forget that she had died?" The pleading in her voice made Kyoko wince, especially since she knew what the answer would be.

' _No. That would require two separate wishes.'_

"What if…I wished that she had never died?"

' _Wishing to remove the cause of your wish would create a time paradox. It isn't impossible, but it would require an exceptionally powerful wish in order to work. You do not have enough potential to make a wish that strong.'_

She sat heavily and didn't say anything more. Kyoko risked a glance at her and saw a dazed, defeated look in her eyes. For just one brief moment, she allowed herself to imagine how she would feel if she thought that she could bring her family back, only to have someone rip that hope away from her. She sat down next to the hurt girl and put her hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Madoka. But your friend is gone, and you wouldn't be doing her a favor by bringing her back to a world that wouldn't understand why she's alive again." She didn't say that Madoka needed to move on and accept that her friend was dead, or that it would get easier as time went by—she had heard that enough times after her family's demise, before she had cut herself off from society altogether, to know exactly how helpful such platitudes were. She opted for a different approach.

"It still hurts now, and it probably will for a while, but don't let the pain make you do something you'll regret. Don't throw your life away for something that won't help anybody." She lightly cuffed the girl's shoulder with the side of her palm. "If you do decide to sell your soul, make a wish for yourself. Wishing for other people never ends well."

"What did you wish for?" she asked in a dull monotone without looking up.

A silence fell that was so heavy it cut through Madoka's stupor and she finally raised her head. Kyoko was staring straight ahead with a look of such bitterness on her face that, just for a moment, Madoka forgot about her own misery.

"K-Kyoko?" she stammered meekly, and the Magical Girl turned to look at her.

She was surprised to see the fear in the tiny girl's face and only then seemed to realize that a fierce scowl had twisted her own. She spat off to the side and, with no small effort, adopted a neutral expression.

"Don't worry about that. Look, it's none of my business what you want to wish for. If you think that bringing your friend back will be worth it, then go for it. I just…want to make sure you understand what that might mean."

Silence fell over the room. Only the slight rustle of Kyubey's fur as he waved his tail or preened could be heard. Madoka wasn't looking at either of them, just staring at the floor. Kyubey's vivid pink eyes were fixed directly on Kyoko, and she stared back with a contemptuous sneer.

 _What's the matter?_ she thought only to herself. _Mad that I talked Madoka out of ruining her life for you?_ She was seized with a strong desire to break his scrawny neck for dumping this whole situation on her, but, while it might have been satisfying, it probably wouldn't do much to help Madoka's state of mind.

An uncomfortably long time passed, and Kyoko was just considering saying something when the pinkette looked up again. Kyoko didn't consider herself to be any kind of expert at reading people or figuring out what was going on in their heads, but she was certain that the girl had changed in the past few minutes. Madoka took a deep breath and looked at Kyubey again.

"I'm not going to make a wish, Kyubey. Please, just…leave me alone from now on."

Kyoko wasn't entirely sure if he could even feel disappointment, but if he did then he certainly didn't show it. _'Of course. It is unfortunate, but the choice is yours. Should you change your mind, I am always available.'_ He turned and scampered across the room before hopping lightly through the still open window.

Kyoko leaned back against the bed and breathed out a large sigh. She had reached her limit for angst and drama for one day—probably for the rest of the month. Whatever else Madoka was thinking or feeling right now, she'd have to manage on her own.

"Look, kid…I'd like to call it a day. You can stay here if you want, but you'd be better off going home. I'll walk you out of the ruins."

"Kyoko…" The pink haired girl tilted her head a little as she considered her. A moment passed in silence, then, "Would you like to come to my house? You wouldn't have to stay out here with no electricity and no food."

Kyoko froze in the midst of standing and stared at the younger girl. Of all of the things Madoka could have said in response to Kyoko essentially telling her to leave, this one hadn't even crossed her mind as a possibility. And she was at a loss for how to respond. A week ago, hell, _yesterday_ , she would have accepted immediately, and then taken as much advantage as she possibly could before disappearing. Probably after stealing anything worth taking.

Now, she hesitated.

"What about your parents? They always take well to you bringing homeless people around?"

The girl shifted around uncomfortably, looking down at her shoes before back up at Kyoko. "I'll talk to them. Papa's very friendly to everyone, and Mama is a good judge of people. Just talk to her and she'll see that you're a good person."

Kyoko scoffed at that last part. "You so sure about that? I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't exactly have a job to pay for all of this junk I get," she said, waving at a few grocery bags full of snacks and candy. "But I get it anyway. What makes you so sure that I won't rob your place in the middle of the night and take off?"

Madoka frowned a little, but she looked more perplexed than angry or shocked. "Would you really do that?"

She opened her mouth to retort, but the words died halfway there. She settled for glaring at the girl who was continuing to just stare innocently back at her. Who the hell was this girl to have such an effect on her in such a short amount of time? Kyoko sneered and finally looked away.

"…No."

A small hand fell lightly on her shoulder and she looked back to see a smile on the girl's face. A strained smile that still bore signs of the heartbreak she had just endured, but a genuine smile all the same.

"Well, then that's settled! Do you want to come with me?"

She was so earnest, so unshakable in her enthusiasm. Kyoko felt a fresh stab of pain in her heart for the lost sister that was so similar to this strange girl, but at the same time she felt a kind of nostalgic happiness. Well, it couldn't hurt to take her up on her offer, just for a little while, could it?

"Heh. Sure. Why the hell not?"

* * *

A/N: I know how this looks, but this isn't turning into a romance, I swear. Their relationship is strictly platonic.

Really.

It might be a little while before the next chapter comes out, because, while I have the ending of this story all planned out and half-written, I don't have anything between this point and that one. So, we'll see how it goes. One thing I can say is that it's winding down, now. I had two goals with this story: focus on a relationship between Kyoko and Madoka, because I've never done that and it's not something you see a lot of, and explore how Madoka's personality and outlook would be affected if her first impression of Magical Girls was a cynical one from Kyoko instead of Mami's rosy idealism. Hopefully that came across clearly in the writing and saying it here is unnecessary (if it didn't, then I have not done my job well enough). Now that I've hit both of those, it's time to start wrapping things up. There will probably be two more chapters.

Anyway, please leave a review!

Later!


	7. Chapter 6

She had to hand it to herself: Kyoko had hit the jackpot. Her jaw had actually dropped when Madoka led her up to her house. The design was stupid looking, but the only people who lived in ultra modern houses of that size were loaded.

Three seconds of looking around the interior had confirmed that.

And now she was lounging in a bath tub for the first time since her family had had to move out of their apartment and start living in the church. She sank into the hot water and closed her eyes, luxuriating in every second of it. Sure, she had broken into places where she could shower on a semi-regular basis, but a cramped shower space didn't hold a candle to this.

This was the good life. The easy life.

She was going to leave in the morning while everyone was still asleep.

Kyoko had been here too long already. If it had been anyone else, she would have cashed in this meal ticket for all it was worth before grabbing as many valuables as she could and disappearing. But she just couldn't bring herself to do that this time.

As her new friend had said, her parents were oddly okay with the idea of taking in a stranger for a few days, though she had felt like a bug under a microscope a few times while having a polite conversation with Junko. Still, she had never been made to feel unwelcome.

No, what made her want to leave was the dull ache in her chest every time she saw the family together and enjoying each other's company. She didn't belong here and didn't have any delusions of becoming a permanent part of this. Maybe she could have put up with it if she had planned to rip them off, but she couldn't betray the only person in the world that gave a damn about her.

She stayed in the bath until her skin started to wrinkle, reluctantly got out and dried off. It was easy to forget about how fucked her world was when she was immersed in blissfully warm, sweet smelling water. But sooner or later that had to come to an end.

Kyoko didn't think the Kanames would appreciate it if she walked down the hallway stark naked, so she threw on someone's robe before stepping out of the bathroom. She walked to Madoka's room, pushed open the door and walked in without knocking. The scrawny, pink-haired girl jumped a little and frowned at the sudden intrusion, but it wasn't like she was in any sort of compromising situation.

"So…what am I supposed to wear while my clothes are in the wash?" Kyoko asked casually. "Or should I just sleep naked?"

Madoka just frowned at her, but a noticeable blush colored her cheeks. "Don't be silly," she chided as she picked up a set of neatly folded pajamas from her bed and held them out to Kyoko. "They might be a little short, but they should mostly fit."

The redhead shrugged indifferently and took the nightwear. "Right, so…you intend to watch or something?" she asked with a raised eyebrow as Madoka remained seated and facing her. The girl's eyes widened and she hurriedly turned around. Kyoko grinned and switched her bath robe for the pajamas. They were a little tight, but useable.

When she was dressed, she looked around the small room and turned a questioning gaze on her host. "You got a sleeping bag or something, or am I just sleeping on the floor?"

Madoka shook her head. "No, that would be terrible of us to not give you a place to sleep. You can sleep with me; my bed is big enough for both of us."

Kyoko stared at her for a full five seconds as she tried to work out whether the naïve twerp really was that clueless or if she was having her on. As Madoka's confusion at the prolonged and silent stare grew, so did the grin on the redhead's face. By God, the kid really _was_ that innocent.

"What?" Madoka finally asked, cheeks pink and brow furrowed.

Shaking her head and snickering, Kyoko waved her concern off. "Nothing, I was just wondering how long it'd be before you tried to get me into bed."

Madoka's blank expression made her smirk falter for a moment. "You know…get into my pants?" Now the girl just looked thoroughly confused—possibly (she reflected later) because Kyoko was literally in Madoka's pants at the moment—and Kyoko felt a mixture of exasperation and incredulity. How could she mess with someone this naïve? "Seduce me," she finally stated flatly.

That finally clicked, and Madoka squeaked and turned scarlet. "That's not—! I wasn't!"

Kyoko rolled her eyes, much of the fun of teasing lost because Madoka was too dense to be teased properly. "Relax, pinkie, I'm just messing with you. Christ, you take everything as seriously as Mami did."

The girl smiled sadly, cheeks still flushed. "You would have liked Sayaka. She was always teasing like that. Well, not _that_ forward, but she did tell me lots of times that she was going to make me her wife."

The redhead grinned. "A cute, blue haired tomboy that had a good sense of humor and was tough enough to kill Walpurgisnacht? Sounds like my kind of girl. Too bad I didn't get a chance to meet her; I might have given it a shot."

Madoka's brow furrowed again. "Given…what a shot?"

Kyoko felt an increasing desire to bang her head against the wall. "Dating her?"

The girl's cheeks turned pink again. "So…you really are, um…"

"Gay?" Kyoko snorted. "As a spring day." She raised a slightly mocking eyebrow. "That bother you?"

Madoka thought for a moment before shaking her head. "I don't think there's anything wrong with it."

The redhead shrugged it off before lowering herself to the floor and stretching out. "Let me just clear things up, so there's no misunderstandings: you're pretty cute, Madoka, but you're definitely not my type. Still, wouldn't want to make things uncomfortable, so I'm going to sleep on the floor."

A brief argument ensued, but Kyoko was absolutely adamant, so at last her host left and returned with a futon and a pile of blankets that she diligently laid out for her guest. Kyoko sank into it gratefully; it was more comfortable than the mildewed old mattress she had been sleeping on in the quarantined district, and a lot more comfortable than a park bench or the sidewalk. The lights went out and she prepared to get a few hours of sleep.

"Kyoko?"

Should've known better. "Yeah?"

"If it isn't too difficult a subject…could you tell me what Mami was like?"

That was unexpected. "Why would ya wanna know that? You hardly ever met the girl."

There was a long silence that Kyoko had no interest in ending, and just when she started thinking that the pinkette had dropped the subject and she could get some sleep, she got an answer.

"Sayaka…she spent so much time with Mami, and I know now that she thought of her as a mentor. I just wanted to know what she was like…"

If Madoka had been possessed of a more duplicitous nature, Kyoko would have immediately suspected that she was playing a sympathy card to get Kyoko to give her what she wanted, and she would have told Madoka to shove it. But the girl was about as well versed in manipulation as she was in innuendo, and Kyoko would have bet her Soul Gem that the pitiable plea at the end of her response was genuine.

She groaned and pressed her palms against her eyes. She really didn't want to get into this topic. "I'm not gonna—I don't…" She could just picture Madoka's crestfallen face in the darkness. "Ugh…fine. Tell ya what: I'll tell you what Mami was like behind the schoolgirl smile and perfect grades, if you tell me about this Sayaka friend of yours. Deal?"

Silence again, but not nearly as long as the first stretch before a confident, "Deal."

No backing out of it now. She had hoped that the added condition would have made the kid balk, but now there was nothing to do but prepare for a long night. "All right… Guess I'll go first. Let me tell you 'bout the time I met her…"

* * *

She waited until Madoka's breathing had slowed, then gave it a few more minutes just to be sure, and finally pushed herself carefully to her feet and crept to the door. She kind of regretted not taking up the offer of sleeping in the bed, but it would have been a lot harder to get up unnoticed. The door opened noiselessly and the thick carpet muffled her footsteps, but she still took each step slowly to ensure that her movement didn't wake Madoka.

At last she was out of the room and down the hall. She made a beeline for the laundry room and snatched her clothes from the dryer. With her old outfit back she was ready to go, but first she made a detour to the kitchen. She was foregoing her instincts and leaving the house's valuables untouched; the least they could do was offer up a little tribute of food. And a little extra because the long conversation with Madoka burned through the hours that she had intended to spend sleeping.

Midnight snack in hand, she had just reached the front door when she heard someone clear their throat behind her.

 _Fuck. Figures._

Kyoko turned casually and gazed back at the purple-haired matriarch of the house, J-something. "Yeah?"

Madoka's mom shifted her weight onto one hip and crossed her arms. "Leaving in the middle of the night without saying goodbye?"

The redhead didn't know whether or not she was being accused of something and normally would have fought mulishly against even the possibility of such, but she wanted to get away from here quickly, before Madoka had a chance to wake up. So she set the snacks she was carrying on an end table and swiftly turned out the pockets of her shorts and patted the pouch of her hoodie, showing them all empty. "I didn't take anything."

The woman's expression softened a shade. "I didn't say you had."

 _But we both know you were thinking it._ "Yeah, well, it's a natural thing to think. To answer your question, yeah, I planned on leaving without saying goodbye, and I'd appreciate it if we could stick to that plan."

Jun-whatever sat on the stairs and cupped her chin in one hand, surveying Kyoko with an inscrutable expression. "You're welcome to leave without any of us making things difficult for you, but if I may ask, why?"

This was the conversation she had really been hoping to avoid, but at least it was easier to say it to this woman that she barely knew than to the girl that seemed to think the world of her. "Because your daughter's a good kid," she said slowly, choosing her words with greater care than usual, "and she doesn't need someone like me in her life. She was nice to me, so I'm returning the favor by staying far away from her."

The older woman's mouth twitched in a near-smile. "I can't pretend to know what circumstances might make that true, but if you're that concerned with my daughter's wellbeing then perhaps you wouldn't be as bad for her as you think. I can at least say this with certainty: I don't know what brought the two of you together, but this is the happiest I've seen Madoka since Sayaka died. And, I hope you'll forgive me for the presumption, but from what I saw it looked like the first time you had been happy in a while, too."

Kyoko set her jaw and didn't say anything. After a few moments of silence, the woman continued.

"Do you think it will be worse for Madoka if you stay than if you disappear from her life?"

Kyoko looked her square in the eye and summoned up an image of Madoka, ripped open by familiars and her cheerful smile replaced by a glassy stare. "Yes."

The woman examined her face in silence for a minute. Then she closed her eyes and nodded slowly. "I'm sorry that that's the case. She could use a friend that cared so strongly for her." She pushed herself to her feet again, took a few steps forward and held her hand out. "Take care of yourself, Kyoko."

"It's what I do best," she shot back with a trace of bitterness, but she shook the woman's hand all the same. "Thanks for the hospitality, um…Madoka's mom."

And with that she slipped out the front door, remembering to grab her food, as the woman's surprised laughter rang out behind her.

* * *

A/N: Sorry, Kyoko storytelling time not included with this product. Read "The Different Story" manga for the tale of how Kyoko and Mami met and became friends! (It's a pretty good spinoff manga, actually. Worth checking out.)

Wow, sure has been a while. Sorry to the handful of you that are interested in this story. If you've been following me for any length of time you will know that I'm terrible at updating stories in a timely manner, but I really appreciate the support I get in spite of that. This story has one, maybe two more chapters in it. Those have only been partially written, so I don't know when I'll actually finish this, but it is nearing the end, which has already been written out. I'll try to write out the parts between here and there without letting months go by again.

Also, keep an eye out for an update for Rigors of Love, that should actually be pretty soon.

Thanks for reading!


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